Coronavirus: German Minister commits suicide
A state finance minister in Germany, Thomas Schaefer, has committed suicide. This was disclosed in a statement by the Police. The body of the 54-year-old Minister was found on railway tracks at Hochheim, near Frankfurt.
Police authorities gave no information on the motive. They said they reached the conclusion he had committed suicide due to “extensive crime scene work, the questioning of numerous witnesses, the situation on site and the technical and forensic evaluations and investigations.”
Prime Minister of German State of Hesse, Volker Bouffier, said the late Schaefer might have been overwhelmed by the Coronavirus crisis in Germany. Germany has 58,247 cases, 14,308 in last 72 hours and recorded more than 400 deaths.
Bouffier recalled that the late Schaefer, who was Hesse’s finance chief for 10 years, had been working “day and night” to help companies and workers deal with the economic impact of the pandemic. “Today, we have to assume that he was deeply worried,” said Mr Bouffier. “It’s precisely during this difficult time that we would have needed someone like him,” he added.
Schaefer had been widely expected to succeed Hesse’s Prime Minister, Volker Bouffier, if Bouffier decided not to stand for re-election in 2023.